Pipe joint packing



May 3, 1932. D. B. STOKES PIPE JOINT PACKING Filed Nov. 28, 1930 Arm/wager Patented May 3, 1932 V UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE DAVID B. STOKES, OF BEVERLY, NEW JERSEY, ASBIGNOR TO UNITED STATES PIPE do FOUNDRY COMPANY, OF BURLINGTON, NEW JERSEY, A CORPORATION OF NEW JERSEY rum JOINT racxme Application filed November 28, 1930. Serial No. 498,586.

My invention relates to pipe joint packings and has for its ob'ect to provlde a packing rin and a metho of usin the same which wilfobviate, as far as possi Ie, the tendency C of pipe joint packing rings to become leaky after the have been in use for a considerable period. in the formation of pi e joint packings between overlapping bel and spigot ends of coupled pipes, packing rings and sometimes a multiple number of packing rings, are forced betweenthe interengaged pipe ends, sometimes'by tampmg hemp or other'similar fibre into a compact rmg, sometimes by tamping lead into the form of a ring, sometimes by the use of rubber or the like as a packing ring, and sometimes b forming, a packing ring out of cement. A l such joints are lia le to become leaky, partly by reason of the expansion and contraction 80 of the pi s, sometimes by the degeneration of material used to form packin rings and sometimes by reason of the'shrin age of the packing rings due to the gradual elimination of moisture therefrom. The object of my invention is to provide a ackin ring which can be used to form a tight joint by tamping it in place, which will be free from the tendenc to shrink and which will accommodate itself to such motions of the cou- 30 pled pipes as are brought about by expansion and contraction thereof and my invention consists in a packing ring made up of some absorbent material, such for instance as hemp or other fibre, thoroughly impregnated and saturated with a cementin material compound of some substance su stantially inert to chemicals contained in the fluid passing through the pipes and of such a character that'it becomes more or less liquefied by heating, said substance being compounded with glycerine or similar hydroscopic liquid so as to form a homogeneous cement. In operation the fibrous material having the general form of the packing ring is thoroughly impregnated and saturated with the cement, then inserted in the pipe joint and tamped or pressed into place and then means are provided for holding the packing ring in position, as, for instance, by means of additional 0 rings of cement or lead. For the best results the ring before application to the joint should be heated to a suiiicient extent to at least partly liquefy and soften the cement component, then forced into place in the joint so as to com letely fill the annular space in which it is ibcated and then permitted to congeal.

For the best results I have used a cement compounded of glue and glycerine and prepared by melting the glue, to which has been added suflicient water to soften it, over a steam bath, thoroughly mixing with the. melted glue the glycerine and then saturating the fibrous material of the ring with the warm and liquid cement. My best results have, I think, been obtained by using glycerine to the extent of ten percent of the glue employed, though very good cements for my purpose can be made with a wide variety in the lycerine component; thus I have success ully used glycerine to the extent of 5 to 18 per cent of the glue. This particular cement has the advantage of formingon conealing, a mass which is not only impervious ut elastic but very excellent results can be had by forming a cement of mixtures of lycerlne with other plastic materials, such,

or instance, as soaps. Where glue or other material subject to putrefaction is employed,

it is of course advisable to add some disin fectant which will prevent putrefaction and for this'purpose I have found the use of a tenth of one percent of phenol to be suflicient and effective.

My invention will perhaps be better understood as explained in connection with the drawings forming a part of this specification, in which Figure 1 is a longitudinal section through a pipe joint embodying my invention, and

Figures 2 and 3 pers iective views illustrating the make-up of two modifications of my packing ring.

A, Fig. 1, indicates the bell end and B the spigot end of two coupled pipes. 0 indicates a packing of lead, which is tamped into the base of the joint; D my improved packing rin which should be of permeable material, such as jute or other fibre, inmregnatod with a cement such as I have described, and E a further packing of lead tamped into the outer portitn of the Joint.

In operation the lead packing C havin been tamped into place, my packing ring 5 is inserted, tamped or pressed into place so as to form a tight closure andthen, in the construction illustrated in Fig. 1, the lead packing E is tamped in so as to hold the compressed packing ring D securelyin place. In Fig. 2 I have indicated the packing rin D as made up of layers of cloth superimpose upon each other and thoroughly saturated and covered with the cementing material, and in Fi 3 I have illustrated a modification u in the ma e-up of the packing ring, which is here made up of a roughly twisted rope of fibrous material, suchas hemp, wound into the general form of a ring and thoroughly saturated with the cementing material. Having now described my invention, what, 1

I claim as new and desire to secure by Let ters Patent is:

1. A packing ring for pipe joints made up of an absorbent packing material saturated with a plastic compound of glycerine and a substance substantially nonreactive with chemicals contained in the fluids passing through the pipe, said plasticcompound having the characteristics of congealing at normal temperatures and liquefying when heated.

2. A packin ring having the characteristic features 0 claim 1, in which the plastic compound consists of a mixture of glue and glycerine.

DAVID B. STOKES. 

